CONVOY – Since claiming an outright and undefeated Green Meadows Conference championship on April 27, the Wayne Trace baseball team has struggled with four losses in its last six contests. The Raiders hope Saturday ignites a turnaround from those recent struggles as Wayne Trace took an early lead and rolled to a 10-1 win over rival Crestview Saturday afternoon in Convoy.
Leading the charge for Wayne Trace was junior hurler Cooper Wenzlick, who limited the Knights to one hit while striking out 15 and allowing just one walk to record the victory on the mound. Crestview picked up just a single unearned run in the third as Levi Grace reached on a dropped third strike, took second when Carson Hunter was hit by a pitch and came in to score on a Nathan Lichtle single.
Wayne Trace opened the game’s scoring with a five-run third inning. Evan Crosby walked to start the frame before Tyler Head singled and Tucker Antoine walked to load the bases. Breven Anderson added a run-scoring single to score Crosby and Cale Winans followed with a sacrifice fly that plated Head for a 2-0 advantage. Wenzlick then reached on a fielder’s choice that allowed Antoine to score the third run of the inning. After Kyle Slade walked, Kyle Forrer added an RBI single to bring in Wenzlick for a 4-0 Wayne Trace lead. Tyler Davis posted a run-scoring double to bring in Slade and put the Raiders on top 5-0.
Crestview scored its lone run in the home half of the inning to get within 5-1 but Wayne Trace answered with a single run in the fifth. Wenzlick led off with a walk and Slade followed with a single. Two batters later, Davis hit a sacrifice fly that brough Wenzlick in to score in expanding the Raider lead to 6-1.
With two outs in the sixth, the Raiders continued to add to the margin. Anderson singled before Winans and Wenzlick drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Slade then widened the gap with a two-run single that scored both Winans and Wenzlick for an 8-1 Wayne Trace advantage.
Wayne Trace wrapped up the scoring in the seventh, again with two outs. With Head on first, an Antoine double and a Crestview error allowed Head to score for a 9-1 Raider lead. After an Anderson walk, Winans drove in the final run of the night with a single that plated Antoine to put Wayne Trace in front 10-1.
Carson Hunter pitched three innings for the Knights, surrendering four hits, five runs and four walks while striking out five. Nathan Lichtle and Bryce Penix combined to throw the final four frames for the Knights, striking out two while giving up four walks and seven hits.
Slade recorded a pair of singles for Wayne Trace while scoring once and driving in two with Anderson hitting two singles, scoring once and posting one run batted in. Winans recorded a single, two runs batted in and scored once with Antoine and Wenzlick each scoring twice. Davis doubled and picked up two runs batted in and Head singled twice and scored twice.
Wayne Trace opens tournament play on Friday as the Raiders will host either seventh seeded Van Buren or ninth seeded Riverdale. The Black Knights and Falcons play in Van Buren on Wednesday with the winner advancing to take on the Raiders.
Crestview also received a bye in tournament play as the Knights open action on May 18 in Convoy. The Knights will square off against either sixth seeded Parkway or 12th seeded Lima Temple Christian as the Panthers and Pioneers tangle on May 16.